Lock.



140. 710.505. Patented out. 7, |902.

` 0. E. MICKEY.

LUCK.

(Application led Feb. 19, 1902.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets$heat I.

m y artsy/m No. 710,505. Patented 001. 7, |902.

0. E. MICKEY.

(Application led Feb. 19, 1902.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2` 7VilrisfiTEio STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR E. NIOKEY, OF BIGSPRING, TEXAS.

LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 710,505, dated October 7,1902.

Application filed February 19 .1902. herial No. 94,799. (No model.)

To f/.N/ 707mm/ it mfr/y concern:

Be itknown that l, OSCAR E. NICKEY, a citizen of the United States, residing atBigspx-ing, in the county of I'Ioward and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Lock, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention is a permutationlock, and while relating particularly to padlocks it will be seen by those skilled in this art that certain features may be employed in connection with locks of a different character.

One ofthe objects of thisinvention is to provide simple permutation mechanism in which the com binaiion may be readily changed and varied a great number of times without the necessity of disassociating the members or elements, the combination-changing devices,

I however, beingpositively secured against accident-al displacement, thereby obviating any danger of unintended changes of combination while lOclied.

Other features relate to improvements in certain details of construction whereby a lock is formed that is an exceedingly simple and therefore inexpensive structure, readily operable by one acquainted with the combination, but not capable of being understood or Lpicked by one ignorant of said combination.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is fully illustrated iu the accompanying drawings, and the construction set forth therein is described in the following specification; but, as already stated, the invention is not to be limited to use in padlocks, as shown, nor to the specific structure set forth, as certain changes may be made therefrom, provided such changes are within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of a padlock embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 isa similar view with the cover removed, showing the interior arrangement of the mechanism. Fig. 3 is a reverse View to that shown in Fig. 2, the back of the casing being removed. Fig. il is a longitudinal sectional view through the lock. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, with the exception that the outer tumbler and the actuating-arm are removed. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the several tu mblers employed, said tumblers being separated, but shown in proper order. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view ofthe toothcarrying arm for the rear tumbler. Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the tumbler-actuating arm. Fig. l0 is a detail perspective view of the shackle-latch and link. Fig. ll is a face view of one of the spacing-washers.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The casing is lin thel form of the usualshaped boxing, comprising a rear face-plate l0, having an integral rim l1, that extends abontthree sides of the same, a cover 2 covering the opposite face and being secured in place by tie-pins 13, which are riveted to the opposite plat es, as will be readily understood. This cover is provided with suitable lugs let, which fit within the rim, and thus position said cover while being fastened in place. Pivoted within one corner of the casing is the shackle l5, having suitable journals or gudgeons l o', which are seared in suitable sockets made for the purpose in the facing-plates. The opposite orfree end of the shackle is reduced in thickness and has a terminal hook 17, which engagesin the casing when said shackle is closed. lt is arranged, however, tobe thrown to open position by means of a spring 1S, coiled about one of the tie-pins 1.3 and having an arm 19, which bears against a preferably curved projection 20, that is located upon the pivoted end of the shackle. This spring is preferably formed of a single piece of wire coiled to proper shape and pressing against the projection, so as to cause the shackle to ily open when unlocked. The opening in the casing between the two terminals of the shackle is closed by a cap-plate 21, hinged upon one of the tie-pins 13 and having a depending catch 22, that detachably engages about another of said tie-pins. This cap-plate is locked in its closed position by lugs 23, located upon the shackle and projecting over the ends of the cap-plate when said shackle is iu closed position. As a result the cap-plate will be securely locked when the shackle is locked. The terminals 1l of the rim are bent inwardly to meet the ends of the cap-plate 2l, said terminals being bifurcated to embrace the ends of the shacklos. Pivoted upon still another of the tie- IOO pins is a holding-latch 24, having a hook portion 25 at its upper end that engages the hook 17 of the shackle to hold said shackle in closed position. This latch is urged into its locking engagement by means of a spring 26, bearing at one end against the casing and at the other end against the movable hook portion, having an intermediate part coiled about the tie-pin. The forward movement of said latch is furthermore limited by a stoppin 27, located in front of the same and directly beneath the hook 17 of the shackle.

The means for operating the latch 24 is preferably constructed as follows: Upon the inner face of the rear plate lO is a boss 28, having an angular socket 29, in which is fitted the angular end of a tumbler-post 30, and on said post is rotatably mounted a plurality of tumblers, (designated, respectively, 3l, 32, 33, and 34.) The several tumblers, as clearly shown Ain Fig. 7, are in the form of at disks, each having a notch 36 in its edge. The rear tumbler 3l is provided with a circular series of sockets or openings 37 and an intermediate arcuate slot 38. A tooth-carrier 39 (clearly illustrated in Fig. 8) is journaled upon the post 30 beneath the tumbler 31 and is adjustably and detachably connected therewith. To this end said carrier isin the form of an arm having a tooth 40 at one end which projects through the arcuate opening 38, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The other end of this arm carries a movably-mounted stud 41, secured to a at leaf-spring 42, which really constitutes a part of the arm, said spring being held against lateral movement by a guide-block 43, movably mounted in a socket 44 in the arm. The stud 4l detachably engages in the sockets or openings 37 of the rear tumbler 3l, and as-a result said arm and the tooth 40, carried by it,will be moved simultaneously with the tumbler; but by disengaging the stud 4l and moving the arm about the relation of the tooth 40 with the notch 36 may be changed. The two intermediate tumblers 32 and 33 are provided on their opposite faces with coacting teeth 45, one of the teeth of the tumbler 32 being arranged to engage with the tooth 40 of the rear tumbler. For the sake of cheapness theseteeth are-preferably made integral with the tumblers by being cut or struck up from the said tumblers, as clearly shown in the drawings. The front tumbler 34 is also provided with a circular series of sockets or openings 46, and one face of its peripheral notch is beveled, as shown at 47. This tumbler is provided with teeth upon its rear face only, which teeth coact with the teeth of the adjacent tumbler 33, as will be readily understood. This front tumbler is actuated through the medium of an operating-stem 48, that projects through the cover of the casing and carries an actuating-arml 49, rigidly secured thereto, and having a spring-pressed stud 50, which detachably engages in the sockets 46. The arrangement of this stud is clearlyillustrated in Fig. 9, being secured to a flat spring 5l, which spring is held against independent lateral movement by a guide-block 52, movably mounted in a suitable socket 53 in the end of the arm. inner end of the operating-stem is provided with a central conical seat 54, in which the front end ofthe tumbler-post is situated, and said tumbler-post is thereby securely held against displacement. The outer or exposed end of the operating-stem has a suitablymilled head 55 and an indicating-dial 56, provided with a suitable scale. 1.) This dial is surrounded by a raised rim 57, having a transverse indicating-notch 58.

The several tumblers are spaced apart by washers 59, said washers having notches 60 at their opposite ends, in which a pair of the tie-pins 13 engage, said tie-pins being located The Y (Shown in Fig. f

on opposite sides of the tumbler-post and securely holding the washers in place. Said washers are provided with enlarged central openings 61, through which the tumbler-post passes and in which are located the coacting teeth of the adjacent tumblers. The washers thereby hold the tumblers spaced apart, so that there will be no frictional contact between them, and at the same time permit the proper coaction of the teeth.

Pivoted to the free end of the latch 24 is a link 62, having at its free end a depending hook 63, which rides upon the peripheries of the tumblers and seats itself in the notches thereof when said notches are alined beneath it. In order to properly hold the hook 63 iu coacting engagement with the tumblers, the link is provided with a spring 64, preferably made integral therewith, as shown in Fig. 10, and bearing against the under side of the capplate 21.

The operation of the mechanism may probably be best described as follows: Assuming the shackle open and the notches of the Several tumblers in.aliuement,with the hook 63 of of the link seated therein, it will be evident that when said shackle is closed its hook will interlock with the hook of the latch 24, and as IOO IIO

long 'as the notches remain in alinement by 1 simply turning the operating-head to the right the foremost tumbler will be correspondingly rotated and the sharp shoulderor hook of the notch engaging with the hook 63 of the link will withdraw the latch from its interlocking engagement and the shackle will fly open. On the other hand, upon turning the head to the left the hook 63 will ride up on the periphery of the outer tumbler 34, and the teeth of said tumbler coming into engagement with the next tumbler will actuate the same, and thereby throw its notch out of alinement. The head can thereupon be rotated in either direction indefinitelywithoutbringing the notches into alinement. To open the lock, however, a person knowing the combination will tu ru the head in one direction until the notch of the real-most tumbler is in alinement with the hook 63, this position being indicated by a suitable number upon the dial-plate alining with the notch 5S of the rim. The movement of the head is thereupon reversed until the predetermined number of the dialplate alining with the notch 5S indicates that the notch of the second tumbleralines with the hook G3 of the link. By thus rotating the head back and forth the operator alines the three rearmost notches with the hook of the link, and upon the last rotation when the notch of the foremost tumbler alines with those of the others said hook will drop into the same and the latch will be withdrawn, as above described. rlhe manner of changing' the combination is very simple. The shackle is iirst opened and the cap-plate 2lv thrown back. This will expose the interior mechanism, so that by inserting the blade ot' a knife or other instrument either of the studs 4l or 50 ofthe arms 39 and 4:9 maybe disengaged from their respective sockets and said arms rotate and engage in other sockets. rlhis will throw the tooth 40 of the rear tumbler into a ditereut relation with respect to the notch 3G of the same, and in like manner will change the relation ofthe indicator-disk 5G and the notch 36 of the front tumbler. The combination is then worked out, which can be readily done by operating the head 55 and noticing the proper numbers upon the iudicat-ing-dial when the several notches are brought into alinemen t, the cap-plate being still open. In this manner the combination may be completely changed,so that entirely different sets of figures can be employed andthe sequence completely altered.

The advantages for this structure may be summed up as follows: In the first place it will be seen that the structure as a whole is made up of simple elements which will not easily become deranged and will withstand rough usage, at the same time being very inexpensive. Further than this, the combination may be readily changed without dismembering the lock, the combination-changing devices, however, being positively locked against accidental displacement, so that there is no danger ofthe combination becoming accidentally changed while the lock is in closed position. l

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, and many advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further description., and it will be understood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. For instance, the invention is not to be limited solely to padlocks, and different numbers of tumblers may be employed. It will also be understood that the tooth upon the rearmost tumbler may be made integral therewith in certain cases where a simple lock is desired, although I consider this a very important feature of the invention, as it multiplies the number of different combinations that may be made.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a lock, the combination with an operating-stein, of a rotatable tumbler, an arm secured to and movable with the stem, a separate spring rest-ing against the arm, and a holding-stud carried by the spring and having a detachable and adjustable engagement with the tumbler.

2. In a lock, the combination with an operatingstem, ol a rotatable tumbler, an arm secured to and movable with the stem, said arm having a guideway, a holding-stud slidably mounted in the guideway and having a detachable engagement with the tumbler, and a spring for urging the stud into such engagement.

3. In a lock, the combination with an operating-stem, of a rotatable tumbler, an arm secured to and movable with the stem, said arm having a guideway in its free end, a tlat metal spring secured to the stem and resting upon the arm, and a holding-stud secured to the free end of the spring, said stud passing through the guideway and having a detachable engagement with the tumbler.

4. In a permutation-lock, the combination with a rotary tumbler, ot' combinat-ion-changing devices including an arm having a guideway, a holding-stud slidably mounted in the guideway and detachably engaging the tumbler, and a spring engaging the stud to urge the same into its said engagement.

5. In a lock, the combination with coacting rotatable tumblers, one of which is provided with a tooth, of an arm movable independ ently of both tumblers, said arm carrying a tooth that coacts with the tooth of the said tumbler, and a holding-stud also carried by the arm and detachably engaging the other tumbler.

e'. In a lock, the combination with coacting rotatable tumblers, one of which is provided with a tooth, of an arm movable independently of both tumblers, said arm carrying a tooth that coacts with the tooth of said tumbler, and a holding-stud yieldingly mounted upon the arm and detachably engaging the other tumbler.

7. In a lock, the combination with a tumbler-post,ot' coacting tu mblers journaled upon the post, one of said tumblers being provided with a tooth, the other having a plurality of sockets, of an arm also journaled upon the post and movable independently of the tumblers, said arm carrying a tooth that coacts with the tooth of said tumbler, and a holding-stud that detachably and adjustably engages in the sockets of the other tumbler.

S. In a lock, the combination with coacting rotatable tumblers one of which is provided with a tooth, of an independently-rotatable arm carrying a movable holding-stud that dc- IIO tachably engages the other tumbler, whereby said tumbler and arm are movable simultaneously, andanother tooth also carried by the arm and coacting with Ithe tooth of the first-mentioned tumbler.

9. In a lock, the combination with coacting rotatable tumblers, one of which is provided with a tooth, the other having an arcuate opening therethrough and provided with a plurality of sockets, of an independently-rotatable arm carrying a spring-pressed holdingstud that detachably engages in the sockets of the tumbler, whereby said tumbler and arm are movable simultaneously, and a tooth also carried by the arm, said tooth projecting through the arcuate opening and coacting with the tooth of the first-mentioned tumbler.

l0. In a lock, the combination with a casing, of a post located within the casing and attached to one wall thereof, a tumbler mounted upon the post, an operating-stem extending through the wall of the casing opposite the wall to which the post is secured, said stem being in line with the post, and a connection between the tumbler and the stem.

l1. In alock, the combination with a casing, of a stationary post located within the casing and attached to one wall thereof, a rotatable tumblerjournaled upon the post, a rotatable operating-stem extending through the wall of the casing opposite the wall to which the post is secured, said stem being in line with and bearing against the end of the post, and an arm secured to the stem and detachably connected to the tumbler.

l2. In alock, the combination with acasing, of a stationary post located within the casing, a tumbler rotatably mounted on the post and having a plurality of sockets, an operatingstem projecting through the casing in line with the post and having its inner end bearing against the outer end of said post, and an arm carried by the inner end of the stem, said arm being provided with a spring-pressed holdingstud that detachably engages in the socket of the tumbler.

13. In a lock, the combination with a casing having an open portion, of a movable closure forsaid open portion, a shackle pivoted to the casing, a latch for the shackle arranged within the casing, tu mblers located within the casing and having notches in their peripheries, a link pivoted to the latch and movable into the notches when they are in alinement therewith, and a spring interposed between and bearing against the movable closure and the latch to urge the link into the notches.

14. In a lock, the combination with a casing having an open portion, of a closurefor the open portion pivoted to the casing, a shackle pivoted upon the casiug,a latch for the shackle pivoted within the casing, a plurality of rotatable tumblers located within the casing and having notches in their peripheries, a link pivoted to the latch and having a hook that is movable into the notches when they are in alinement therewith, said link having an integral spring cut therefrom and bearing against the pivoted closure to urge the hook of the link into the notches.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signaturei the presence of two witnesses.

OSCAR E. NICKEY,

Vitnesses:

XV. H. JAMES, R. L. MCCAMANT. 

